STORRS, Conn. - Connecticut needed 20 minutes to start looking like the No. 1 team in the country.
The Huskies rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to beat Yale 70-60 Monday night in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.
It was better than the other time Connecticut was a preseason No. 1. The Huskies opened the 1999-2000 season with a 70-68 loss to Iowa in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
"We've been through this before with great teams and with not so great teams," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. "We were not prepared to pay the price initially."
The undermanned Bulldogs used a patient offense to spread the floor and keep the Huskies from getting out on the break.
That changed in the second half as the Huskies used a 14-2 run to take a 48-37 lead. They led by as many as 17 points before struggling at the free-throw line in the final 41/2 minutes.
"That was an untraditional game," Calhoun said. "We're going to have to be different teams different nights. This will be a work in progress not in terms of talent but with different roles."
NO. 11 TEXAS 89, BROWN 51: P.J. Tucker had 18 points and 13 rebounds in his debut for the host Longhorns.
Tucker became the third Texas freshman to post a double double in his debut. He set the school freshman first-game record for rebounds and tied the points mark.
AUBURN 66, CHARLESTON 62: Brandon Robinson scored 19, including two free throws with four seconds lift that sealed it for the host Tigers.
The Cougars tied the score at 62 with 2:20 left on a basket by Bernard Jackson. After each team missed two jumpers, Kyle Davis tipped in a missed 3-pointer by Nathan Watson to give the Tigers a two-point lead with 34 seconds left.
ECKERD 95, PUERTO RICO-RIO PIEDRAS 77: Marcus Bryant had a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the host Tritons.
AP POLL: Five ranked teams played in the opening days of the season, and the two that faced each other were the only ones to make significant moves in the Top 25. St. Joseph's used its 73-66 victory over Gonzaga to move from 17th to 13th. The Bulldogs dropped from 10th to No. 16.
ARKANSAS: A federal judge denied a petition from the Razorback Foundation to dismiss it from a lawsuit filed by former coach Nolan Richardson. The Razorback Foundation said in its motion for dismissal that Richardson failed to state a claim, but U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson Jr. said he was not convinced by the foundation's argument that it wasn't Richardson's employer.
Women
NO. 18 UCSB 52, NO. 19 UTAH 44: Lisa Willett and Kristen Mann scored 11 each, and the host Gauchos held the Utes to 33.3 percent shooting in the Preseason NIT.
